Chapter Eight: The Boy With The Scar

I shoved my hands forward, knocking the figure backward with a blast of air. They grunted as they hit the metal wall behind them, and their mask flew off. I pushed myself to my feet and hobbled my way across the watery floor to get a better look at the figure.

It was a boy. He looked around my age, and from what I could see of his face, he had pale skin and a horrible scar that engulfed the circumference of his left eye. I could tell from the shape that he had been burned. A red flag went off in my mind at the thought of the scar, but I was too panicked to dwell on it.

"Not a step closer." My voice was low, and I kept my hands up.

The boy just stared at me with wide eyes. Well, his right eye was wide while the left was only halfway open, and both were molten gold.

Fire Nation. My whole body trembled despite my attempts to suppress it.

However, something about this seemed off to me. If he really was Fire Nation, why wasn't he with the soldiers, whom were still cheering above us? Instead, he was sneaking around the sewers like he was a spy or a thief.

The boy blinked a few times before standing. "You… you're an air-bender."

"You catch on quick. Must've been top of the class." I narrowed my eyes. "Now, who are you?"

"None of your business." His tone was snippy, like he had something to hide, and he retrieved his mask. "How do you exist? The Avatar is the only air-bender left."

"Let's see…. Oh right, that's none of your business." I gave him a smug grin and shrugged. "Guess we'll both remain mysteries to each other."

Securing his mask over his face, he scoffed and pushed past me. "Move. You're in my way."

I almost lost my balance and had to steady myself against the wall. The boy headed toward the vent I fell out of, and I glanced down at my cuffs. I couldn't stay trapped here forever, and this unexpected encounter was the only opportunity I was going to get.

"Wait, please." Using the wall for support, I shuffled myself toward him. "Look, I don't know who you are or what you're doing here, but can you please help me?"

He was halfway up the ladder before he stopped and looked down at me. "And why should I help you?"

"Ah, come on, Handsome." Pouting, I gave him big bunny-puppy eyes and batted my lashes. "Surely you're not too busy to aid a poor, damsel in distress like myself?"

He flinched at my flattery and mumbled something in an irritated tone.

"Please. I'm with the Avatar. We both got captured, and they separated us." I furrowed my brow. "I have to rescue him."

The boy was silent for a moment before he slid back down the ladder. "You actually trust me?"

"No." I shook my head. "But if you wanted to kill or capture me, you would've done so already. So I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt."

He nodded and pulled out a pair of broad swords from the sheath on his back. "Hold out your hands and remain still."

Hmm. Risk getting my hands chopped off or be abandoned in the sewer? I did as the boy asked. "Okay, but if you cut me, it'll be the last thing you ever do."

He didn't respond and swung both of his swords down at my wrists. I stood still, mouth agape, and watched the blades sliced through the metal cuffs without touching my skin. I checked my hands. No. There wasn't a scratch on them. Sitting down, I leaned back against my hands and lifted myself until my feet were accessible. He did the same trick again, and I smiled at my newfound freedom.

"Thank you." I stood. "You're really good with those."

"Just hurry up, so we can save the Avatar." He groaned and sheathed his swords. "You've already wasted enough of my time."

The boy climbed the ladder, and I quickly followed after him.

"Hang on, you're here to rescue Aang?" I said.

"Yes." He groaned. "Now, be quiet, and don't slow me down."

I frowned at his rudeness. However, at this point, the only thing that mattered was rescuing Aang and returning to the others safe and sound, so I was willing to let it slide. This time. The boy removed the grating from the vent and poked his head out to see if it was safe. When it was, he climbed out and motioned for me to follow him.

"He should be at the top of this stupid tower." The boy ran for the stairs.

I followed, and reaching at my belt, I mentally cursed. My whips and knives were gone, and I knew I was never going to find them in this metal monstrosity. I could still fight without them, but they had sort of become my staple. I felt like I was missing a part of myself, you know?

I glared at the open door of my cell as we rushed by, and my blood boiled at the thought of Zhao. At least I know his name now, but revenge will have to wait for another time.

We climbed staircase, after staircase, after staircase, but there were no soldiers anywhere.

"The majority of them must've gone outside for Zhao's little speech," the boy whispered.

"Yeah, well, don't let your guard down just yet." I held out my hands, ready to bend anyone that came our way. "And judging by your tone, I take it you have a personal gripe with the Admiral?"

"I thought I told you to be quiet?" he said.

"Whatever." I rolled my eyes.

We reached the top of this tower of terror, and after sneaking down the hallway, we finally spotted a soldier. This one was loitering by himself, but we'd be stupid to think he didn't have any friends lurking close by.

I looked at his helmet and whispered, "Fire-bender."

"Nothing I can't handle." The boy pointed his finger down. "Stay here."

In any other circumstance, I would've protested, but I was still feeling exhausted from my awkward escape attempt, falling from a cliff, and having an arrow in my shoulder. The boy zipped around the corner, and while the soldier's back was still turned, he kicked the soldier's legs from underneath him. The soldier fell, and before he could retaliate, the boy stomped his face in.

I cringed. Well, he definitely doesn't hold back.

I watched while the boy tied the unconscious soldier up and hung him from the ceiling as bait. He then tossed the soldier's helmet out into the next hallway before hiding on the ceiling himself. One by one, he lured more soldiers into the hallway and took them down like they were nothing.

I couldn't help but be a bit impressed. His form, the way he handled his swords, and even his stealth was too perfect. He had to have been trained for years, and I found myself becoming more and more curious about this mysterious boy's identity.

I saw him disappear around another corner with a bowl of water behind his back. There was a roar of fire, a loud splash, and then the thud of a body hitting the metal floor. I saw the boy return to my line of sight and motion for me to follow. I did so and waited for him to unlock the door with the stolen keys.

When the door opened, I smiled and rushed inside. "Aang!"

The twelve-year-old looked up with wide eyes. "Tashi!"

His cell was much bigger, and his arms and legs had been chained to two pillars that rested on either side of him. He struggled against them, but he couldn't get out on his own.

I looked to the boy. "Alright, you. Work your magic."

"Tashi, who's…?" Aang screamed as the boy charged at him with his swords.

He cut the chains from the pillars, allowing Aang to relax his limbs before slicing the cuffs off. Aang rubbed his wrists, and before he could say thank you, the boy had already run back to the door. He motioned for us to follow, and seeing Aang's bewildered expression, I nodded to him with a smile.

Aang caught up to me. "Who is that?"

"A friend. I think." I shrugged. "He wouldn't tell me his name."

"Are… are you okay?" His voice trembled a little. "Zhao told me that he… he told me…."

I furrowed my brow. "Told you what?"

"That he was gonna… was gonna–" His eyes watered, and he gulped. "Hurt you."

Why that…. My breath caught in my throat. That monster. That disgusting creep.

Did Zhao really tell Aang that he was going to rape and kill me in front of him? Avatar or not, Aang's just a boy, and only the most vile of creatures would say something like that to a child. So much rage filled my body that I was ready to punch the next soldier who crossed our path. In fact, that's exactly what I was going to do, and hopefully it would be Zhao himself.

"No, I'm alright. Don't worry." I gave him a reassuring smile.

Aang nodded, and we continued following the boy out of the fortress. It wasn't long before we were back in the sewer, and we escaped into the outside yard through a grating in the ground. The yard was surrounded by a tall, stone wall, and there were watch towers posted on each corner. The boy gestured to a rope that he must've used to climb down the wall earlier, and we quickly made our way up.

To our luck, the sirens went off, and the soldiers spotted us halfway up the rope. One of the soldiers cut it, sending us falling back to the ground, but Aang cushioned the fall with an orb of air. The boy gestured toward the gates, and I raised an eyebrow. Why was he being so quiet all of sudden? He had no problem speaking before, but once we had found Aang, he refused to say a word.

"The Avatar and the other air-bender have escaped!" Zhao's voice echoed from above. "Close all the gates immediately!"

We rushed toward the gates, but the soldiers swarmed in from all sides. Aang air-bended at the ones closest to the gate, blowing them away, but the boy and I were caught by the rest. I dodged out of the way of a soldier's spear before air-punching him, and he flew back into the soldiers behind him. The next one came at me with a sword, and I kept dodging left and right until I was able to kick his legs from underneath him.

"Tashi!" Aang rushed over to us with a broken spear, and he blew away the surrounding soldiers. "Come on. We can jump over the wall."

I pointed to the boy. "But he's not an air-bender. How will he…?"

My question was answered when Aang used the broken spear to air-bend the boy on top of the wall. The boy started fighting the oncoming soldiers while we made our way up.

I air-punched one of the soldiers in the face before looking out at the rest of the fortress. "There's two more walls? You've gotta be kidding me."

"We can fly over." Aang held up his broken spear.

"But all three of us will be too heavy. Besides, I don't know how to fly like that." I gasped as a sword swiped mere inches in front of my face, and I dodged backward before kicking the soldier over the side of the wall. "Maybe we can just jump over like we did before?"

"Fair enough," he said.

I looked at the boy. "Hey, you! Over here!"

The boy finished off the two soldiers he was fighting before running over to me.

"Here." I turned away from him and crouched a little. "Climb onto my back, and I can jump us across to the next wall."

The boy sheathed his swords and did so, but I could tell from his rigid body language that he felt awkward about it. He was also fairly heavy, but not so much that I couldn't move.

"Let's go!" Aang jumped down.

I followed and ran behind him while he used the broken spear to air-swipe away any nearby soldiers. We hopped onto the top of the next wall and started fighting the oncoming soldiers. We defeated the first wave, but the soldiers in the next yard below started climbing up with bamboo ladders. Using a gust of air, I blasted one set of soldiers back to the ground and knocked their ladder from the wall. Aang and the boy did the same, and now all we had to do was reach the final wall to escape.

"Hurry!" I motioned to the boy.

Aang twirled the broken spear in his hand to carry himself across. The boy climbed onto my back again, and taking the deepest breath I could, I propelled us three quarters of the way across the yard. I buffered our fall, but before I could jump again, several streams of fire shot at us. Aang landed in front of us and deflected the attack with a giant orb air.

"Hold your fire!" Zhao stepped out into the open while the soldiers made way for him.

The boy climbed off of my back and unsheathed his swords. I hid behind both him and Aang, so the soldiers wouldn't single me out as a target. I glared at Zhao, wishing I could kill him here and now.

"The Avatar must be captured alive," Zhao said.

Upon hearing this, the boy held his swords around Aang's neck.

I gasped and put up my hands, ready to air-bend the boy if he hurt Aang. Please tell me he's bluffing.

Zhao stared us down, an unsettling silence washing over the yard, but he didn't make a move. Whoever this boy was, Zhao was convinced that he would kill Aang if he or the other soldiers got too close.

"Open the gates," Zhao said.

One of the other officers looked at him. "What are you doing?"

Zhao glared at us. "Let them out. Now!"

The gates opened up behind us. I turned, making sure there weren't any surprises waiting outside, and slowly walked out. I stayed close to Aang and the boy in case it was a trick. We made it outside, and the gates shut. It was easy, too easy.

I looked at the boy. "Okay, you've made your point. Let go of Aang, so we can get out of here."

The boy didn't respond, and kept his hold on Aang.

"She's right. You can let go of me now," Aang said.

The boy remained silent, and he kept slowly guiding us back down the dirt road. I understood that he wanted to make sure we weren't pursued, but something didn't feel right about this. A second later, an arrow struck the boy's mask, and he was sent flying back onto the ground. His swords lay sprawled next to him, and his mask slipped off a little.

I narrowed my eyes at the wall. "It's those archers again. We have to get out of here."

Aang bended at the dirt road, creating a large cloud of dust that served as a cover. I picked up the boy's broad swords and handed them to Aang.

"Take these." Returning to the boy, I wrapped his arms around my shoulders and lifted him onto my back. "Let's go."

We rushed out of the area before the dust around us could settle and hid deep within the forest. We reached an area that seemed like a good resting spot for the time being, and even if it wasn't, my back was starting to hurt. Aang set up a patch of leaves for me to lay the boy down on, and I set his broad swords next to him. The arrow hadn't caused any damage other than a concussion, and I hoped it wasn't that bad.

"Do you think anyone followed us?" I said.

"Hopefully, not." Reaching for the boy's mask, Aang removed it and gasped. "Zuko?"

I shifted my gaze from the boy to Aang. "What?"

Aang looked at me. "That's the guy we told you about. The Prince of the Fire Nation."

At that very moment, I recalled Sokka's description of a boy with a scar and mentally slapped myself. That can't…. We were rescued by the Prince of Fire Nation!